BlackRock’s assets under management hit a new high in the second quarter as global markets rallied on the prospect of trade deals and interest-rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve, brushing aside earlier tariff-related jitters.
A robust labour market and hopes that President Donald Trump would ease some of his harsher trade measures pushed major U.S. indices to all-time highs through the end of June. That marked a sharp reversal from early April, when tumult in U.S. trade and geopolitical policy battered confidence and fueled recession fears, concerns that BlackRock CEO Larry Fink echoed at the time.
“We’re entering our seasonally strongest back half of the year with considerable momentum and a robust pipeline,” said Fink on a post-earnings call with investors. The benchmark S&P 500 index rose 10.57% in the second quarter of 2025.
BlackRock’s assets under management rose to $12.53 trillion in the quarter ended June 30, up from $10.65 trillion last year.
Long-term net inflows fell to $46 billion in the quarter, down 9.8% from a year ago and below average analyst expectations of $53.5 billion, with $52 billion pulled from a lower-fee index fund by a single institutional client. Overall net flows came in at $68 billion, driven mainly by cash-management and money-market funds.
Equity product inflow surged to $28.8 billion, compared to $6.44 billion a year ago, while fixed-income products saw outflows of $4.66 billion, BlackRock said. Trends for the business are being closely scrutinized, given the turbulence in U.S. Treasuries this quarter.
Safe-haven Treasuries and the greenback have also suffered as markets price in tax cuts and spending hikes from Trump’s recently passed “Big Beautiful Bill,” which nonpartisan analysts predict will add more than $3 trillion to the country’s $36.2 trillion debt.
Overall retail inflows fell to about $2 billion from $5.7 billion a year earlier, weighed down mainly by equity outflows as retail investors reduced contributions due to market volatility.
On Tuesday, BlackRock management also highlighted the potential boost in growth that the firm anticipates from the rapidly expanding stablecoin ecosystem. A bill – dubbed the Genius Act – is expected to pass the House of Representatives this week and head to U.S. President Donald Trump’s desk, which could legitimize stablecoins.
Source: Financialexpress